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Mentuhotep was possibly a local Egyptian nomarch at Thebes during the early first intermediate period, ca. 2135 BC. The Karnak king list found in the Festival Hall of Thutmose III preserves, in position No. 12, the partial name "Men-" in a royal cartouche, distinct from those of Mentuhotep II (No. 29) or Mentuhotep III (No. 30). The available fragments of the Karnak list do not seem to represent past pharaohs in any chronological order, and thus one cannot ascertain if or when this "Men-" pharaoh lived. Many scholars have argued from the list that a Mentuhotep I, who might have been merely a Theban nomarch, was posthumously given a royal titulary by his successors; thus this conjectured personage is referred to conventionally as "Mentuhotep I".[4][5][6][7]

The fact that "Mentuhotep I" is not actually attested on any contemporary monument has led some Egyptologists to propose that he is a fictional ancestor and founder of the Eleventh dynasty, invented for that purpose during the later part of the dynasty.

On the base of a statue from the sanctuary of Heqaib on Elephantine, a Mentuhotep is referred to as "Father of the gods".[8][9] This title probably refers to Mentuhotep's immediate successors, Intef I and Intef II who reigned as kings over Upper Egypt. From this title, many Egyptologists argued that this Mentuhotep was probably the father of Intef I and II,[4][8][10] and also that he was never a pharaoh, as this title was usually reserved for the non-royal ancestors of pharaohs.[5][6][7][8]

The throne name of Mentuhotep is unknown; since he might not have been a king, or no subsequent 11th Dynasty king bore any throne name until Mentuhotep II, it is probable that he never had one. His Horus name Tepi-a, "The ancestor" was certainly given to him posthumously.[11]

Mentuhotep's wife might have been Neferu I and the statue from Heqaib may be interpreted to show that he was the father of Intef I and II. The Karnak king list has apparently one non-royal personage (without cartouche), named Intef, in position no. 13. This could possibly refer to Intef the elder, son of Iku, a Theban nomarch loyal to the Herakleopolitan kings in the early first intermediate period. However, the kings on the remaining fragments are not listed in chronological order, so this is not at all certain.

As Theban nomarch, Mentuhotep's dominion perhaps extended south to the first cataract. Mentuhotep might hypothetically have formed an alliance with the nomarch of Coptos, which then brought his successor Intef I to war with the Herakleopolitan kings of the 10th Dynasty ruling over Lower Egypt and their powerful nomarch allies in Middle Egypt, in particular Ankhtifi.

^ abWilliam C. Hayes, The Middle Kingdom in Egypt. Internal History from the Rise of the Heracleopolitans to the Death of Ammenemes III., in The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. I, part 2, Cambridge University Press, 1971, ISBN0 521 077915, p. 476

1.
Pharaoh
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The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty

2.
Egyptian chronology
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The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing the chronology as given by two Egyptologists, the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. The disparities between the two sets of result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist, following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a lowering of the chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. The backbone of Egyptian chronology are the years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. In addition, some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential results in widely differing chronological interpretations. However, further research has shown that these censuses were taken in consecutive years. The sed festival was celebrated on the thirtieth anniversary of the Pharaohs ascension. However, once again, this may not be the practice in all cases. In the early days of Egyptology, the compilation of regnal periods may also have been hampered due to bias on the part of the Egyptologists. This was most pervasive before the mid 19th century, when Manethos figures were recognized as conflicting with biblical chronology based on Old Testament references to Egypt, in the 20th century, such biblical bias has mostly been confined to alternative chronologies outside of scholarly mainstream. A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms, over the past decades, a number of these have been found, although they are of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability. While this does not fix a person or event to a specific year, another example are blocks from the Old Kingdom bearing the names of several kings, which were reused in the construction of Middle Kingdom pyramid-temples at Lisht in the structures of Amenemhat I. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle and this is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries

3.
Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt
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However, his testimony that this dynasty was based at Thebes is verified by the contemporary evidence. It was during this dynasty that all of ancient Egypt was united under the Middle Kingdom and this dynasty traces its origins to a nomarch of Thebes, Intef the Great, son of Iku, who is mentioned in a number of contemporary inscriptions. However, his immediate successor Mentuhotep I is considered the first king of this dynasty, Intef undertook several campaigns northwards, and captured the important nome of Abydos. The rulers of Dynasty XI reasserted Egypts influence over her neighbors in Africa, Mentuhotep II sent renewed expeditions to Phoenicia to obtain cedar. Sankhkara Mentuhotep III sent an expedition from Coptos south to the land of Punt, the reign of its last king, and thus the end of this dynasty, is something of a mystery. Contemporary records refer to seven empty years following the death of Mentuhotep III, modern scholars identify his vizier Amenemhat with Amenemhat I, the first king of Dynasty XII, as part of a theory that Amenemhat became king as part of a palace coup. The only certain details of Mentuhoteps reign was that two remarkable omens were witnessed at the quarry of Wadi Hammamat by the vizier Amenemhat, eleventh Dynasty of Egypt family tree Media related to 11th dynasty of Egypt at Wikimedia Commons

4.
Intef the Elder
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Intef the Elder was not a pharaoh but rather the nomarch of Thebes c.2140 BC. As such he would have served either a king of the 8th Dynasty or one of the Herakleopolitan kings of 9th or 10th Dynasty. Intef the Elder would have controlled the territory from Thebes to Aswan to the south and not farther north than Koptos, Intef is believed to be the father of his successor on the Theban throne, Mentuhotep I. Intef the Elder was seemingly perceived as a figure of the 11th Dynasty after his death. For example, his figures in the chapel of royal ancestors erected at Karnak by Thutmose III over 600 years after Intefs death. In the chapel, Intef is given the titles of Count, on his stele Maat asks that prayers be told for Intef the Elder the son of Iku. Intef may also be mentioned on a stele from Dendera, the two pieces of which are now in Strasbourg and in Florence, and which gives him the title of Great prince of the southland. The attribution of this stele to Intef the Elder is debated, given the importance of Intef the Elder in the eyes of his successors, Alan Gardiner proposed that Intef the Elder was mentioned on the Turin canon in column 5 line 12. This remains conjectural however as this section of the papyrus is completely missing, auguste Mariette unearthed a stele of the hereditary prince Intefi at Dra Abu el-Naga on the west bank of Thebes and now in the Egyptian Museum CG20009. Jürgen von Beckerath believes this stele was Intefs funerary stele, originally placed in a chapel near his tomb, morenz, Ludwig D. Lesbarkeit der Macht. Die Stele des Antef als Monument eines frühthebanischen lokalen Herrschers

5.
Intef I
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Sehertawy Intef I was a local nomarch at Thebes during the early First Intermediate Period and the first member of the 11th Dynasty to lay claim to a Horus name. Intef reigned from 4 to 16 years c.2120 BC or c.2070 BC during which time he probably waged war with his northern neighbor, Intef was buried in a saff tomb at El-Tarif, known today as Saff el-Dawaba. Intef is known for certain from only one monument, two inscribed blocks from the temple of Montu at Tod which were erected during Mentuhotep IIs reign. The blocks represent Mentuhotep II facing the names of three of his ancestors which are identified by their name and Horus name. These are Intef Sehertawy, Intef Wahankh and Intef Nakht-neb-tep-nefer and this relief establishes the succession of kings of the 11th Dynasty. There are no contemporary monuments which can be attributed to Intef I. A possible exception is an inscription discovered in the western desert. In the original publication of the inscription this king Intef is identified with Intef I, the inscription is located in the vicinity of an inscription commissioned by the contemporary Coptite nomarch named Tjauti. Intef I is most likely attested on later king lists, in the Karnak king list a king Intef appears next to Men. Most likely Mentuhotep I, as part of the latters Horus name, the few remains of Intef Is Horus name fit to Sehertawy.13. The durations of the reigns of the other 11th Dynasty kings are preserved in the Turin Canon, furthermore, the summary of reigns of this Dynasty is also preserved in the Turin Canon and is given as 143 years. Thus the duration of Intefs reign is often reported to be between 4 and 16 years, Intef I was succeeded by his brother Intef II who pursued the war with the northern neighbors of the Theban kingdom. Intefs parents may possibly have been Mentuhotep I and Neferu I, by taking a Horus name with both crowns, Intef declared himself ruler of all Egypt. Alternatively, this may have achieved by Intefs predecessor Mentuhotep I. Both hypotheses remain conjectural given the paucity of records on this period. Intef I got rapidly embroiled in a war with his northern neighbors, a graffito discovered by the Theban Desert Road Survey in the Gebel Tjauti northwest of Thebes reports the presence there of the assault troops of the son of Ra, Intef. It has been posited that this refers to Intef I whose soldiers were fighting the Coptite nomarch Tjauti. Although not named explicitly, Darell Baker and other Egyptologists contend that this ruler must either be Intef I or his successor Intef II

6.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs

7.
Satet
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Satis, also known by numerous related names, was an Upper Egyptian goddess who, along with Khnum and Anuket, formed part of the Elephantine Triad. A protective deity of Egypts southern border with Nubia, she came to personify the former annual flooding of the Nile and to serve as a war, hunting, and fertility goddess. She was sometimes conflated with Isis and Sopdet, goddess of the bright star Sirius, under the Interpretatio Graeca, she was conflated with Hera and Juno. The exact pronunciation of ancient Egyptian is uncertain, as vowels were not recorded until a late period. In transcription, the name also appears as Setis, Sati, Setet, Satet, Satit. Derived from sṯ, meaning eject, shoot, pour, or throw and her name was originally written with the hieroglyph for a linen garments shoulder knot, this was later replaced by Anukets animal hide pierced by an arrow. She was also known by epithets, such as Mistress of Elephantine and She Who Runs Like an Arrow, a goddess of the Upper Egyptians, her cult is first attested on jars beneath the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. She appears in the Pyramid Texts purifying a deceased pharaohs body with four jars of water from Elephantine and her principal center of worship was at Abu, an island near Aswan on the southern edge of Egypt. Her temple there occupied an early predynastic site shown by Wells to be aligned with the star Sirius, other centers include Swenet and Setet. She was particularly associated with the reaches of the Nile. As a war goddess, Satis protected Egypts southern Nubian frontier by killing the enemies of the pharaoh with her sharp arrows, as a fertility goddess, she was thought to grant the wishes of those who sought love. She seems to have originally been paired with the Theban god Montu but later replaced Heket as the consort of Khnum, by Khnum, her child was Anuket, goddess of the Nile. After Khnum was conflated with Ra, she became an Eye of Ra in place of Hathor. Together Khnum, Anuket, and Satis formed the Elephantine Triad, Satis was usually pictured as a woman in a sheath dress wearing the hedjet, the conical crown of Upper Egypt, with antelope horns. She is sometimes depicted with bow and arrows, holding an ankh or scepter and she also appears in the form of an antelope. Her symbols were the arrow and the running river, Egyptian pantheon Isis & Sopdet Elephantine, Aswan, & Sehel Island Vygus, Mark, Middle Egyptian Dictionary. Wilkinson, Richard H. Satis, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London, Thames & Hudson, pp. 164–6, ISBN 0-500-05120-8

8.
Elephantine
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Elephantine is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in southern Egypt. There are archaeological sites on the island, Elephantine island is 1,200 metres from north to south, and is 400 metres across at its widest point. The layout of this and other islands in Aswan can be seen from west bank hillsides along the Nile. The island is located just downstream of the First Cataract, at the border of Upper Egypt with Lower Nubia. This region above is referred to as Upper Egypt due to land and river elevations being higher than downstream, and than the Nile Delta region to the Mediterranean Sea. The island may have received its name after its shape, which in aerial views is similar to that of an elephant tusk and this is the meaning of the Greek word elephas. Known to the Ancient Egyptians as Abu or Yebu, the island of Elephantine stood at the border between Egypt and Nubia and it was an excellent defensive site for a city and its location made it a natural cargo transfer point for river trade. Elephantine was a fort that stood just before the first cataract of the Nile, during the Second Intermediate Period, the fort marked the southern border of Egypt. According to Egyptian mythology, here was the place of Khnum, the ram-headed god of the cataracts. He was worshipped here as part of a late triad among the Egyptian pantheon of deities, the Elephantine Triad included Satis and Anuket. Satis was worshipped from very early times as a war goddess, when seen as a fertility goddess, she personified the bountiful annual flooding of the Nile, which was identified as her daughter, Anuket. The cult of Satis originated in the ancient city of Swenet, later, when the triad was formed, Khnum became identified as her consort and, thereby, was thought of as the father of Anuket. His role in myths changed later and another deity was assigned his duties with the river, at that time his role as a potter enabled him to be assigned a duty in the creation of human bodies. Ongoing excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at the town have uncovered many findings, on display in the Aswan Museum located on the island, artifacts dating back to predynastic times have been found on Elephantine. A rare calendar, known as the Elephantine Calendar of Things, in ancient times, the island was also an important stone quarry providing granite materials that would be transported widely within Egypt for monuments and buildings. Prior to 1822, there were temples to Thutmose III and Amenhotep III on the island, at that time they were destroyed during the campaign of Muhammad Ali, who had taken power in Egypt, to Conquer Sudan. Both temples were relatively intact prior to the deliberate demolition, the first temple was the Temple of Satet, it was founded around 3000 BC and enlarged and renovated over the next 3000 years. There are records of an Egyptian temple to Khnum on the island as early as the third Dynasty of Egypt and this temple was completely rebuilt in the Late Period, during the thirtieth dynasty of Egypt, just before the foreign rule that followed in the Graeco-Roman Period

9.
Horus
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Horus is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom, different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a falcon or peregrine falcon. In another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife, Horus served many functions, most notably being a god of the sky, war and hunting. Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr. w Falcon, additional meanings are thought to have been the distant one or one who is above, over. As the language changed over time, it appeared in Coptic dialects variously as hoːɾ or ħoːɾ and was adopted into ancient Greek as Ὧρος Hōros and it also survives in Late Egyptian and Coptic theophoric names such as Har-si-ese Horus, Son of Isis. Nekheny may have been another falcon god worshipped at Nekhen, city of the falcon, Horus may be shown as a falcon on the Narmer Palette, dating from about the 31st century BC. In early Egypt, Horus was the brother of Isis, Osiris, Set, as different cults formed, he became the son of Isis and Osiris. Isis remained the sister of Osiris, Set and Nephthys, the Pyramid Texts describe the nature of the pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The pharaoh as Horus in life became the pharaoh as Osiris in death, New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new pharaohs. The lineage of Horus, the product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify pharaonic power. The gods produced by Atum were all representative of cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life, the notion of Horus as the pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty. Once Isis knew she was pregnant with Horus, she fled to the Nile Delta marshlands to hide from her brother Set, who jealously killed Osiris, there Isis bore a divine son, Horus. Since Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to contain the sun. It became said that the sun was his eye and the moon his left, and that they traversed the sky when he. Later, the reason that the moon was not as bright as the sun was explained by a tale, known as the The Contendings of Horus and Seth. As Horus was the victor he became known as ḥr. w wr Horus the Great. In the struggle, Set had lost a testicle, explaining why the desert, Horus left eye had also been gouged out, then a new eye was created by part of Khonsu, the moon god, and was replaced

10.
Intef II
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Wahankh Intef II was the third ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. He reigned for almost fifty years from 2112 BC to 2063 BC and his capital was located at Thebes. In his time, Egypt was split between several local dynasties and he was buried in a saff tomb at El-Tarif. Intefs parents were Mentuhotep I and Neferu I and his predecessor Intef I may have been his brother. Intef was succeeded by his son Intef III, after the death of the nomarch Ankhtifi, Intef was able to unite all the southern nomes down to the First Cataract. After this he clashed with his rivals, the kings of Herakleopolis Magna for the possession of Abydos. The city changed several times, but Intef II was eventually victorious. After these wars, more friendly relations were established and the rest of Intefs reign was peaceful and this impression would appear to be confirmed by an expedition led by Djemi from Gebelein to the land of Wawat during his reign. Consequently, when Intef II died, he left behind a government in Thebes which controlled the whole of Upper Egypt. The earliest attested dating of the god Amun at Karnak occurs during his reign, the surviving sections of the Turin Canon for the Middle Kingdom assign this king a reign of 49 years. Intef II apparently never held the full royal titulary of the Old Kingdom pharaohs. He did, however, claim the dual kingship nswt bity and the title son of Ra. Finally, upon accession to the Theban throne, Intef II added the Horus name Wahankh, enduring of life, to his birth name. We know the name and activities of some of the officials who served under Intef II, Tjetjy was the treasurer and king’s chamberlain of Intef II. Tjetjy then describes his career in the typical manner of the Egyptian elite. I am one who loved good and hated evil, one who was loved in the palace of his lord, indeed, as for every task which he commanded me to undertake, I performed it rightly and justly. Never did I disobey the orders he gave me, never did I substitute one thing for another, djary was a military officer who fought the Herakleopolitan forces in the Abydene nome during Intef IIs armies northward push. His stele recounts the struggle for the control over Middle Egypt, Hetepy was an official from Elkab who administered the three southernmost nomes of Intef IIs realm

11.
Thebes, Egypt
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Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located east of the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome. It was close to Nubia and the desert, with their valuable mineral resources. It was a center and the wealthiest city of ancient Egypt at its heyday. The Ancient Egyptians originally knew Thebes as Wose or Wase A was was the scepter of the pharaohs, a staff with an animals head. Thebes is the Latinized form of the Greek Thebai, the form of the Demotic Egyptian Ta-pe. This was the name not for the city itself but for the Karnak temple complex on the northern east bank of the city. As early as Homers Iliad, the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as Thebes of the Hundred Gates, as opposed to the Thebes of the Seven Gates in Boeotia, from the end of the New Kingdom, Thebes was known in Egyptian as Niwt-Imn, the City of Amun. Amun was the chief of the Theban Triad of gods whose other members were Mut and this name appears in the Bible as the Nōʼ ʼĀmôn of the Book of Nahum and probably also as the No mentioned in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the interpretatio graeca, Amun was seen as a form of Zeus, the name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, the City of Zeus. To distinguish it from the other cities by this name. The Greek names came into use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. Thebes was located along the banks of the Nile River in the part of Upper Egypt about 800 km from the Delta. It was built largely on the plains of the Nile Valley which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast-southwest axis parallel to the river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km2 which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter al-Qurn, in the east lies the mountainous Eastern Desert with its wadis draining into the valley. Significant of these wadis is Wadi Hammamat near Thebes and it was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. In the fourth Upper Egyptian nome, Thebes was found to have neighboring towns such as Per-Hathor, Madu, Djerty, Iuny, Sumenu, according to George Modelski, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC

12.
Nomarch
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Nomarchs were Ancient Egyptian administration officials responsible of the provinces. Effectively serving as governors, they each held authority over one of the 42 nomes into which the country was divided. Nome is derived from the Greek nomos, meaning a province or district, and nomarch is derived from the Greek title nomarches, the power of the nomarchs grew with the reforms of Nyuserres second successor, Djedkare Isesi, which effectively decentralized the Egyptian state. The post of nomarch then quickly became hereditary, thereby creating a feudal system where local allegiances slowly superseded obedience to the pharaoh. Less than 200 years after Djedkares reign, the nomarchs had become the heads of the provinces. The power of the nomarchs remained important during the later royal revival under the impulse of the 11th Dynasty and their power diminished during the subsequent 12th Dynasty, setting the stage for the apex of royal power during the Middle Kingdom. The title of nomarch continued to be used even until the Roman period, the title was also in use in modern Greece for the heads of the prefectures of Greece, which were also titled nomos. Philae. nu, The Nomes of Ancient Egypt

13.
Upper Egypt
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Upper Egypt is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and downriver to Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver to the area between Dahshur and El-Ayait, which is south of modern-day Cairo, the northern part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt. In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Saidis, in ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt was known as tꜣ šmꜣw, literally the Land of Reeds or the Sedgeland It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes. The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih just to the south of Cairo, the main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen, whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet. By about 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops, shortly after 3600 BC, Egyptian society began to grow and increase in complexity. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the Levantine ceramics, extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-drying adobe and architectural principles—including the use of the arch, concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process, warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta, for most of pharaonic Egypts history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined, under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypts capital city. Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus, in the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis. It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the cause of the migration. In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Said was used by the apparent to the Egyptian throne. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952, media related to Upper Egypt at Wikimedia Commons

14.
Mentuhotep II
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Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II was a Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty who reigned for 51 years. Around his 39th year on the throne he reunited Egypt, thus ending the First Intermediate Period, consequently, he is considered the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II was the son of Intef III and Intef IIIs wife Iah who may also have been his sister. This lineage is demonstrated by the stele of Henenu, an official who served under Intef II, Intef III and his son, as for Iah, she bore the title of mwt-nswt, Kings mother. The parentage of Mentuhotep II is also confirmed by a relief at Shatt er-Rigal. f Kings wife, his beloved. She gave Mentuhotep II two children, one of which was certainly Mentuhotep III since Tem was also called mwt-nswt, Kings mother and mwt-nswt-bitj, apparently she died after her husband and was buried by her son in Mentuhotep temple. Her tomb was discovered in 1859 by Lord Duffering and fully excavated in 1968 by D. Arnold, Neferu II was called Kings wife and hmt-nswt-mryt. f, Kings wife, his beloved. She was buried in the tomb TT319 of Deir el-Bahri, kawit was one of Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives. She bore the titles of hmt-nswt mryt. f Kings wife, his beloved and khkrt-nswt and she was a Priestess of the goddess Hathor. It has been suggested that she was Nubian and she was buried under the terrasse of Mentuhotep IIs mortuary temple where E. Naville uncovered her sarcophagus in 1907. Sadeh, Ashayet, Henhenet and Kemsit were all Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives and they bore the title of hmt-nswt mryt. f Kings wife, his beloved and khkrt-nswt-w3tit Unique embellishment of the King. They were priestesses of Hathor and each of them was buried in a pit dug under the terrasse of Mentuhotep IIs temple. Note that an alternative theory holds that Henhenet was one of Intef IIIs secondary wives, Henhenet might have died in childbirth. Mwyt, a girl buried with Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives. It is not clear if she was one of Mentuhoteps wives herself or one of his daughters, Mentuhotep II is considered to be the first ruler of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The Turin Canon credits him with a reign of 51 years, when he ascended the Theban throne, Mentuhotep II inherited the vast land conquered by his predecessors from the first cataract in the south to Abydos and Tjebu in the north. Mentuhotep IIs first fourteen years of reign seem to have been peaceful in the Theban region as there are no surviving traces of conflict firmly datable to that period, in the 14th year of his reign, an uprising occurred in the north. This uprising is most probably connected with the conflict between Mentuhotep II based in Thebes and the rival 10th Dynasty based at Herakleopolis who threatened to invade Upper Egypt

15.
Karnak king list
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Composed during the reign of Thutmose III, it listed sixty-one kings beginning with Sneferu from Egypts Old Kingdom. Only the names of kings are still legible, and one is not written in a cartouche. It was first described by James Burton in 1825, in 1843, a German expedition directed by egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius was traveling up the River Nile to Karnak. A French adventurer, Émile Prisse dAvennes, dismantled and stole the blocks containing the king list one night in order to secure it for France, severely damaged, it is now on display at the Louvre in Paris. The list features the name of the Pharaoh followed by the actual one inscribed on the list, the list comprises three sections and is divided at the center. The numbering follows Lepsius, counting from the sides, toward the center

16.
Festival Hall of Thutmose III
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The Festival Hall of Thutmose III is an ancient shrine in Luxor, Egypt. It is located at the heart of the Precinct of Amun-Re, the edifice is normally translated as the most glorious of monuments, but monument to living spirit is an alternative translation since akh can mean either glory or blessed/living spirit. The Festival Hall of Thutmose III is situated at the end of the Middle Kingdom court and it was originally built to celebrate the jubilee of Thutmose III, and later became used as part of the annual Opet Festival. It is seemingly decorated to echo a huge tent shrine, complete with awnings, in this temple, the Karnak king list, shows Thutmose III with some of the earlier kings that built parts of the temple complex. Built at the end of Karnaks main axis, and enclosed in its own walls. This is known as the Hry-ib, or that which is at the heart of it, the only original entrance was in the south-west corner. The walls contain the Botanical garden of Thutmosis III, the originals of these were removed and are now located in the Louvre in Paris. List of lists of ancient kings Blyth, Elizabeth, thebes in Egypt A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor. Ancient Egypt, Anatomy of a Civilization

17.
Mentuhotep III
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Sankhkare Mentuhotep III of the Eleventh dynasty was Pharaoh of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. He was assigned a reign of 12 years in the Turin Canon, Mentuhotep III succeeded his father Mentuhotep II to the throne. It is believed that, following his fathers long 51 years of reign, Mentuhotep III was relatively old when he acceded to the throne, despite its short duration, Mentuhoteps reign is known for his expedition to Punt and architectural innovations. Mentuhotep IIIs titulary is very similar to the third and final one of his father, an inscription in the Wadi Hammamat describes the expedition as being 3000 men strong and under the command of the steward Henenu. As they left Coptos in direction of the Red Sea, they dug 12 wells for future expeditions and they returned from Punt with incense, gum and perfumes, and quarried the Wadi Hammamat for stones. Sankhkare Mentuhotep was responsible for building projects in the 12 years of his reign. His own mortuary temple was begun in Deir el-Bahari, but never completed, the temple was located a short distance from his fathers mortuary temple. A causeway would have led up to a temple platform, inscriptions show that the king was buried in a chamber cut into the rock-face. Sankhkare Mentuhotep also had a temple erected at Thoth Hill in Western Thebes. The temple was built on the site of an archaic temple. It was dedicated to the god Montu-Ra and this temple may have been destroyed by an earthquake towards the end of the 11th dynasty. Mentuhotep III was the son and successor of Mentuhotep II, one of the wives of Mentuhotep II, Tem, was given the title Mother of the Dual King and based on that title she is almost certainly the mother of Mentuhotep III. Mentuhotep IIIs family is mostly a mystery and it is currently believed that he fathered his successor Mentuhotep IV with one of his harem wives, Imi. This is however still debated Mentuhotep IVs mother is known to have been Queen Imi, if he was the son of Mentuhotep III, Imi must have been the wife of Mentuhotep III. The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, History, Archaeology and Society

18.
Heqaib
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Heqaib, also Hekaib or Hekayeb, was an ancient Egyptian nomarch of the 1st nomos of Upper Egypt under king Pepi II Neferkare, towards the end of the 6th Dynasty. He was also an officer in charge of expeditions in Nubia. As officer, he led at least three expeditions, all of these are registered on the façade of his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa, after a long list of his titles. In the first expedition, Pepinakht led an attack in the lands of Wawat and Irthet, slaying many warriors. Then, he was sent back to the places where he captured some chieftains. Pepinakhts autobiography abruptly ends while he was attacking the sand dwellers, however, its very likely that he was able to accomplish even this mission. His capabilities and charisma earned him the nickname Heqaib and then, after his death and this fact may be representative of the great power achieved by local authorities in this period, which is a prelude to the forthcoming collapse of the Egyptian state. His son, named Sebni, apparently succeeded him in his charges, in a room in an official building on Elephantine were found several wooden boxes with names of local officials. One box bears the name of Heqaib and these boxes were most likely used in rituals around the funerary cult of the people mentioned on them. Shortly after Heqaibs death and divinization, a number of people started to worship this local saint initially in front of his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa. Heqaibs distant successors during the Middle Kingdom such as Sarenput I, Sarenput II and Heqaib III, expanded the sanctuary by building shrines dedicated to him, Elephantine IV, The Sanctuary of Heqaib

19.
Herakleopolis Magna
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Heracleopolis Magna or Heracleopolis is the Roman name of the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt. The site is located approximately 15 km west of the city of Beni Suef. In Ancient Egypt, Heracleopolis Magna was known in Egyptian as the House of the Royal Child, the Greek name meant City of Hercules, with the epithet great being added to distinguish it from other towns with that name. The Greek form became more common under the Macedonian Ptolemid dynasty, the Romans used a latinized form of the Greek name but the town was by then known locally as Ehnasya. This later developed into Hnas and Ahnas, the site is now known in Egyptian Arabic as Ihnasiya Umm al-Kimam and as Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah. Herakleopolis first came to prominence and reached its apogee of power during the First Intermediate Period, eventually after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt. Herakleopolis became the city of Lower Egypt and was able to exercise its control over much of the region. During this period, Herakleopolis often found itself in conflict with the de facto capital of Upper Egypt, ancient Thebes. Between the latter part of the First Intermediate Period and the early Middle Kingdom, the city became religious center of the cult of Heryshef, Heracleopolis Magna and its dynasty was defeated by Mentuhotep II in ca. 2055-2004 B. C. which ushered in the Middle Kingdom period, by the time of the Third Intermediate Period, Herakleopolis again rose in importance. There were many renovations and new constructions of the temple and mortuary centers that existed in the city, by the Ptolemaic period of Egypt, Herakleopolis was still an important religious and cultural center in Egypt. The site of Herakleopolis was occupied even into Roman times, near the Necropolis of Sedmet el-Gebel, houses dating to this period were found, which in and of itself implies a continued occupation of the area. The first person to undertake an excavation at Herakleopolis was the Swiss Egyptologist Edouard Naville. After excavating what he believed to be the entirety of the Temple of Heryshef, Naville came to the conclusion that he had found all that Herakleopolis had to offer. His friend Sir Flinders Petrie, on the hand, “. in 1879 suspected that the region already cleared was only a part of the temple, ”. Petrie discovered a great deal that Naville had not believed existed and he completed the excavation of the temple of Heryshef, and attempted to find other remains in an area around the temple. In so doing, he succeeded in discovering such previously unknown features as house remains from the Roman period of occupation and he also identified another temple that he attributed to the 19th Dynasty, as well as the aforementioned additions to the Temple of Heryshef associated with Ramses the Great. Other than archaeological features, the artefacts found by Petrie during his excavation are numerous, relating specifically to artefacts found at the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, Petrie uncovered numerous pot sherds he associated with the 11th Dynasty

20.
First cataract
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In some places, these stretches are punctuated by whitewater, while at others the water flow is smoother, but still shallow. Counted going upstream, In Egypt, The First Cataract cuts through Aswan and its former location was selected for the construction of Aswan Low Dam, the first dam built across the Nile. However, none of the Niles six primary cataracts could be described as waterfalls, and given a broader definition. Geologists indicate that the region of the northern Sudan is tectonically active, the Nubian Swell has diverted the rivers course to the west, while keeping its depth shallow and causing the formation of the cataracts. Even as the bed is worn down by erosion, the land mass is lifted. The geological distinction between two portions of the river is considerable. This created a vast canyon that is now filled by the sediment, for more information, see the Eonile as well as the Messinian salinity crisis. Despite these characteristics, some of the cataracts which are impassable by boat because of the shallow water have become navigable during the flood season. Eratosthenes gave a description of the Cataract-Nile, “It has a similar shape to a backwards letter N. Then it makes another turn, and flows northward 5300 stadia to the cataract, curving slightly to the east, then 1200 stadia to the smaller cataract at Syene. Cataract photos links, First Cataract Second Cataract & Second Cataract Third Cataract & Third Cataract & Third Cataract Fifth Cataract

21.
Coptos
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Qift is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile. In ancient Egypt, Qift, known then as Gebtu, was an important center for administration, religion, from Qift and Qus, trading expeditions heading for the Red Sea and many mining expeditions into the Eastern Desert left the Nile Valley. Gebtu was at the starting-point of the two great routes leading to the coast of the Red Sea, the one toward the port Tââou. Gebtu was the most important religious center in the area and its principal male deity was Min, a sky-god whose symbol was a thunderbolt. He became a fertility deity, and also was regarded as the male deity of the desert region to the east. His cult rose to prominence in the Middle Kingdom, at that time, he became associated with Horus as the deity, Min-Horus. Later, he was fused with Amen in the deity Min-Amen-ka-Mut-ef, Gebtu, once politically important, especially under the eleventh dynasty, was overshadowed by Thebes. It recuperated its prominence under the Antonines, it was the camp of Legio III Cyrenaica. It rebelled, but soon was captured in 292 by Diocletian after a siege and almost destroyed. In the 6th century, Qift was renamed Justinianopolis, like other cities. Under the Muslim caliphs and the sultans, Qift remained one of the cities of Upper Egypt. In the 13th century, there still were numerous monasteries around the city, Qift was ruined in the 16th century by the Ottomans. Qift was the focus of an American archaeological project from 1987 to 1992, the undecorated northern temple of Min and Isis dates to the Ptolemaic period. Earlier structures on the date back to the Middle Kingdom. The temple was rebuilt during the Ptolemaic Period, the later work has been attributed to an official named Sennuu-shepsi on behalf of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. This northern temple has some additions by Ptolemy IV Philopator ruling from 221-205 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II of Egypt and was the pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Egypt. More additions were added by Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome, Caligula, the second pylon still carries the dedication text of Nero, and the cartouche of Caligula appears on the north end of this structure

22.
Ankhtifi
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Ankhtifi was a nomarch of Hierakonpolis and a supporter of the pharaoh in Herakleopolis Magna, which was locked in a conflict with the Theban based 11th Dynasty kingdom for control of Egypt. Hence, Ankhtifi was possibly a rival to the Theban rulers Mentuhotep I, the precise pharaoh under whom Ankhtifi served is anything but certain, the sequence and number of kings in the 9th and 10th dynasties is a matter of widely varying conjecture. Only a few of the names on the much later king-lists have had their reigns or existence corroborated through scattered archaeological finds. The only pharaoh mentioned in Ankhtifis tomb is in the following isolated inscription, some Egyptologists have proposed identifying this Ka-nefer-Re with the throne name Neferkare, attested only on the Turin Canon for this dynasty. 2000 BC. I found the House of Khuy inundated like a marsh, abandoned by him who belonged to it, in the grip of the rebel, under the control of a wretch. I made a man embrace the slayer of his father, the slayer of his brother, I am an honest man who has no equal, a man who can talk freely when others are obliged to be silent. The general of Armant said to me, Come, oh honest man, sail with the current down to the fortress of Armant. But no one dared to come out from Thebes because they were afraid of my troops. I gave bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked, I anointed those who had no oil, I gave sandals to the barefooted. The whole of Upper Egypt died of hunger and each individual had reached such a state of hunger that he ate his own children, but I refused to see anyone die of hunger and gave to the north grain of Upper Egypt. And I do not think anything like this has been done by the provincial governors who came before me. I brought life to the provinces of Hierakonpolis and Edfu, Elephantine. His autobiography also suggests that he only became nomarch of Edfu after seizing it from Khuy, the evaporation of the lakes water, which occurred over a period of many years, hints at the severity of the drought which affected Egypt during this time. The date of Ankhtifi of Moalla, Göttinger Miszellen,78,1984, pp. 87–94

23.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

24.
Labib Habachi
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Labib Habachi was an influential Egyptian Egyptologist. Dr Habachi spent 30 years in the Antiquities Department of the Egyptian Government, during this period he spent an enormous amount of time in numerous dig sites in Egypt and the Sudan. He left government work to accept a position at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago as an Archaeological Consultant to its Nubian Expedition and he believed that he found the location of Avaris, and this opinion was widely accepted at the time. In 1941-42 he worked at Tell el-Daba for the Egyptian Antiquities Service, the Obelisks of Egypt, Skyscrapers of the Past. Aswan, the town with a glorious past and a promising future / by Labib Habachi, features of the deification of Ramesses II / Labib Habachi. Fī ṣaḥrāʼ al-ʻArab wa-al-adyirah al-sharqīyah / taʼlīf Labīb Ḥabashī, Zakī Tāwaḍrūs, sixteen studies on lower Nubia / by Labib Habachi. Studies on the Middle Kingdom / Labib Habachi, Tell Basta / by Labib Habachi Le tombeau de Naÿ à Gournet Marʻeï / Labib Habachi, Pierre Anus. American Univ in Cairo Press,2007 ISBN9774160614

25.
Naqada III
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Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation and they would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery. The Protodynastic Period in ancient Egypt was characterised by a process of political unification. Furthermore, it is during this time that the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs, there is also strong archaeological evidence of Egyptian settlements in southern Canaan during the Protodynastic Period, which are regarded as colonies or trading entrepôts. State formation began during this era and perhaps even earlier, various small city-states arose along the Nile. Centuries of conquest then reduced Upper Egypt to three states, Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen. Sandwiched between Thinis and Nekhen, Naqada was the first to fall, nekhens relationship with Thinis is uncertain, but these two states may have merged peacefully, with the Thinite royal family ruling all of Egypt. The Thinite kings were buried at Abydos in the Umm el-Qaab cemetery, most Egyptologists consider Narmer to be both the last king of this period and the first king of the First Dynasty. Southern Canaan as an Egyptian Protodynastic Colony, the Emergence of the Egyptian State. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press. The Prehistory of Egypt, From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs, the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-Palestine During the Protodynastic Period, biblical Archeologist, Perspectives on the Ancient World from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean. Http, //www. touregypt. net/featurestories/hdyn00. htm Unification Theories, Digital Egypt, UK, UCL

26.
Double Falcon
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Double Falcon was a ruler of Lower Egypt from Naqada III. He may have reigned during the 32nd century BCE, the length of his reign is unknown. It was in 1910 that Egyptologist M. J. Clédat discovered the first evidence for Double Falcon, investigating the site, Clédat soon discovered four serekhs of Double Falcon. The next attestation of Double Falcon was discovered in 1912 during excavations by Hermann Junker on the site of Tura, the concentration of Double Falcons serekhs in Lower Egypt and the north-western Sinai indicates that his rule may have been limited to these regions. The serekh of Double Falcon is unique in its layout and composition, firstly, it is the only serekh topped by two Horus falcons, facing each other. Secondly, the serekh does not have a compartment, being filled by the vertical lines which usually represent the niched facade of a palace. The serekh also lacks the line that delimits the palace facade from the name of the ruler above. Finally, each falcon stands on its own peak, egyptologists M. J. Cledat, Günter Dreyer and Edwin van den Brink suspect that a deeper symbolism explains these peculiarities. The two falcons could represent Lower Egypt and the Sinai, as it seems that Double Falcon reigned over both regions. In contrast, van den Brink reads the name as Nebwy, the two lords, and sees a similarity with a much earlier palette on display in the Barbier-Mueller Museum of Geneva

27.
Iry-Hor
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Iry-Hor or Ro was a predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt during the 32nd century BC. Until recently, Iry-Hors existence was debated, with the Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson contesting the reading, however, continuing excavations at Abydos in the 1980s and 1990s and the discovery in 2012 of an inscription of Iry-Hor in the Sinai confirmed his existence. Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name and possibly the earliest historical person known by name, Iry-Hors name is written with the Horus falcon hieroglyph above a mouth hieroglyph. Given the archaic nature of the name, the translation proved difficult and, in the absence of better alternative, in the 1990s, Werner Kaiser and Günter Dreyer translate Iry-Hors name as Companion of Horus. Toby Wilkinson, who contested that Iry-Hor was a king, translated the signs as Property of the king. e, reading the bird above the mouth-sign as the swallow hieroglyph G36 rather than the Horus falcon. They translated the name as Spokesman or Chief and this was consequently accepted by von Beckerath and Iry-Hor is now the first entry in the latest edition of von Beckeraths Handbook of Egyptian Pharaohs. Until 2012, the name of Iry-Hor had not been found in or next to a serekh, Egyptologists Flinders Petrie, Laurel Bestock and Jochem Kahl nonetheless believed that he was indeed a real ruler. They pointed to the spelling of Iry-Hors name, the Horus falcon holds the mouth hieroglyph in its claws. On several clay seals, this group of characters is accompanied by a second. This notation is reminiscent of numerous anonymous serekhs held by a Horus falcon with individual hieroglyphs placed close to it rather than within the serekh, finally, the serekh could have been a convention that started with Ka, whose name has been found both with and without a serekh. Therefore, they concluded that the argument that Iry-Hor was not a king because his name was never found in a serekh was insufficient, supporters of the identification of Iry-Hor as a king, such as egyptologist Darell Baker, also pointed to the size and location of his tomb. It is a tomb, as big as those of Ka and Narmer. Furthermore, Iry-Hors name is inscribed on a large jar exhibiting the royal Horus falcon and is similar to found in the tombs of other kings of this period. In contrast, some Egyptologists doubted Iry-Hor even existed, precisely because his name never appeared in a serekh, Ludwig D. Morenz and Kurt Heinrich Sethe doubted the reading of Iry-Hors name and thus that he was a king. Morenz, for example, suspected that the sign may simply have been a phonetic complement to the Horus falcon. Sethe understood the group of characters forming Iry-Hors name as an indication of origin, Toby Wilkinson dismissed the tomb attributed to Iry-Hor as a storage pit and the name as a treasury mark. Indeed, r-Ḥr may simply mean property of the king, dreyers excavations of the necropolis of Abydos revealed that Iry-Hor was in fact well attested there with over 27 objects bearing his name and that his tomb was of royal proportions. Furthermore, in 2012 an inscription mentioning Iry-Hor was discovered in the Sinai, the inscription mentions the city of Memphis, pushing back its foundation to before Narmer and establishing that Iry-Hor was already reigning over it

28.
Ka (pharaoh)
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Ka, also Sekhen, was a Predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt belonging to Dynasty 0. He probably reigned during the first half of the 32nd century BC, the length of his reign is unknown. The correct reading of Kas name remains uncertain, the second form of that writing indicates a reading as Sekhen rather than Ka. It was also thought to be the name of Narmer. Because the reading of the name is so uncertain, Egyptologists, Ka ruled over Thinis in the first half of 32nd century BC and was buried at Umm el-Qaab. He most likely was the successor to Iry-Hor and was succeeded either by Narmer or by Scorpion II. He is the earliest known Egyptian king with a serekh inscribed on a number of artifacts and this may thus be an innovation of his reign. Ka is one of the best attested predynastic kings with Narmer, the number of artifacts bearing Kas serekh found outside Abydos is much greater than that of his predecessor. This may be the sign of an influence and perhaps conquest of larger portions of Egypt by the Thinite kings. Two underground chambers, B7 and B9, in the Umm el-Qaab necropolis of Abydos are believed to be part of the tomb of King Ka. Each chamber is 1.90 m deep, B.7 is 6.0 ×3.2 m while B.9 is slightly smaller at 5.9 x 3.1 m, Kas tomb was first excavated by Petrie in 1902. The excavations yielded fragments of flint knife and pottery, in the southernmost chamber B7, more than forty inscriptions have been found on tall jars and cylinder vessels as well as a seal impression. The tomb of Ka is close to that of Iry-Hor and Narmer, furthermore, it is located within a sequential order linking the older U cemetery with the First Dynasty tombs, thus suggesting that Ka succeeded Iry-Hor and preceded Narmer on the throne. Wilkinson, Toby AH, Early Dynastic Egypt, London/New York, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-18633-1

29.
Scorpion II
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Scorpion II, also known as King Scorpion, refers to the second of two kings or chieftains of that name during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt. King Scorpions name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptology and his name is often introduced by a six- or seven-leafed, golden rosette or flower-sign. Its precise meaning has been discussed, the most common interpretation is that of an emblem meaning nomarch or high lord. Thus, the golden rosette became an emblem of Seshat. The reading of the sign is also disputed. Most linguists and Egyptologists read it Neb or Nesw, and they are convinced that the rosette was some kind of forerunner to the later serekh. The scorpion fetish, which underlies the name of Scorpion II, is linked to the later-introduced goddess Selket. But Egyptologists and linguists such as L. D, morenz, H. Beinlich, Toby Wilkinson and Jan Assmann have pointed out that the goddess was introduced no earlier than the late Old Kingdom period. In this view, the fetish of the protodynastic period should not be associated with Selket. Morenz points out that, in cases where an animal is included in a rulers name. The scorpion animal commonly stood for dangerous things, such as poison and illness, since it is unclear what actual meaning was reserved for the serekh animal of Scorpion II, scholars usually refer to him as King Scorpion II. There are several theories regarding his identity and chronological position and they also argue that the artistic style seen on the macehead of Scorpion II shows conspicuous similarities to that on the famous Narmer macehead. Wilkinson, Renée Friedman and Bruce Trigger, have identified king Scorpion II as the Gegenkönig of Narmer, at the time of Scorpion II, Egypt was divided into several minor kingdoms that were fighting each other. It is likewise conjectured that Narmer simply conquered the realms of Ka and Scorpion II and it is currently on display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The stratigraphy of this macehead was lost due to the methods of its excavators, the Scorpion Macehead depicts a single, large figure wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. He holds a hoe, which has interpreted as a ritual either involving the pharaoh ceremonially cutting the first furrow in the fields. The use and placement of the iconography is similar to the depiction of the pharaoh Narmer on the side of the Narmer Palette. The king is preceded by servants, the first in row seems to throw seeds from a basket into the freshly hacked ground

30.
Narmer
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Narmer was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period. Probably the successor to the Protodynastic kings Scorpion and/or Ka, some consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. This conclusion is based on the Narmer Palette and the two seals from the necropolis of Abydos that show him as the first king of the First Dynasty. The date commonly given for the beginning of his reign is c.3100 BC, other mainstream estimates using both the historical method and Radiocarbon dating are in the range 3273–2987 BC. Although highly inter-related, the question of “who was Menes. ”, while Menes is traditionally considered the first king of Ancient Egypt, Narmer has been identified by the majority of Egyptologists as the same person as Menes. Although vigorously debated, the predominant opinion is that Narmer was Menes, the issue is confusing because “Narmer” is a Horus Name, while “Menes” is a personal name. The difficulty is aligning the contemporary archaeological evidence which lists Horus Names with the King Lists that list personal names, two documents have been put forward as proof either that Narmer was Menes or alternatively Hor-Aha was Menes. The first is the “Naqada Label” which shows a serekh of Hor-Aha next to an enclosure inside of which are symbols that have been interpreted by scholars as the name “Menes”. The second is the impression from Abydos that alternates between a serekh of Narmer and the chessboard symbol, “mn”, which is interpreted as an abbreviation of Menes. Arguments have been made with regard to each of these documents in favour of Narmer or Hor-Aha being Menes, but in neither case, are the arguments conclusive. Two necropolis sealings, found in 1985 and 1991 in Abydos, in or near the tombs of Den and Qa’a, show Narmer as the founder of the First Dynasty, followed by Hor-Aha. The Qa’a sealing lists all eight of the kings of the First Dynasty in the correct order starting with Narmer and these necropolis sealings are strong evidence that Narmer was the first king of the First Dynasty – hence is the same person as Menes. The famous Narmer Palette, discovered by James E, since its discovery, however, it has been debated whether the Narmer Palette represents an actual historic event or is purely symbolic. Of course, the Narmer Palette could represent an historical event while at the same time having a symbolic significance. In 1993, Günter Dreyer discovered in Abydos, a “year label” of Narmer depicting the event that is depicted on the Narmer Palette. This year label shows that the Narmer Palette depicts an historical event. Archaeological evidence suggests that Egypt was at least partially unified during the reigns of Ka and Iry-Hor, but there is a substantial difference in the quantity and distribution of inscriptions with the names of those earlier kings in Lower Egypt and Canaan, compared to the inscriptions of Narmer. The archaeological evidence suggest that the unification began before Narmer, but was completed by him through the conquest of a polity in the North-West Delta as depicted on the Narmer Palette

Pharaoh
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The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onw

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Den

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Narmer Palette

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Nomen and prenomen of Ramesses III

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Royal titulary

Egyptian chronology
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The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing

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Astronomical ceiling from the tomb of Seti I showing stars and constellations used in calendar calculations

Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt
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However, his testimony that this dynasty was based at Thebes is verified by the contemporary evidence. It was during this dynasty that all of ancient Egypt was united under the Middle Kingdom and this dynasty traces its origins to a nomarch of Thebes, Intef the Great, son of Iku, who is mentioned in a number of contemporary inscriptions. However, h

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Abydos King List, Royal cartouches 57 through 61

Intef the Elder
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Intef the Elder was not a pharaoh but rather the nomarch of Thebes c.2140 BC. As such he would have served either a king of the 8th Dynasty or one of the Herakleopolitan kings of 9th or 10th Dynasty. Intef the Elder would have controlled the territory from Thebes to Aswan to the south and not farther north than Koptos, Intef is believed to be the f

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Intef the Elder seated, on what is perhaps his funerary stele CG 20009.

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Seated statue dedicated by Senusret I to Intef the Elder, here represented as a scribe.

Intef I
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Sehertawy Intef I was a local nomarch at Thebes during the early First Intermediate Period and the first member of the 11th Dynasty to lay claim to a Horus name. Intef reigned from 4 to 16 years c.2120 BC or c.2070 BC during which time he probably waged war with his northern neighbor, Intef was buried in a saff tomb at El-Tarif, known today as Saff

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Serekh of Intef I reading "Horus Sehertawy", inscribed posthumously for him by Mentuhotep II in the Temple of Montu, now in the Egyptian Museum.

Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom,

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Serekh containing the name of Djet and an association with Wadjet, on display at the Louvre

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Praenomen of the Cartouche of Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor

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In the Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from Senusret I, from Beni Hasan.

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Royal titulary

Satet
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Satis, also known by numerous related names, was an Upper Egyptian goddess who, along with Khnum and Anuket, formed part of the Elephantine Triad. A protective deity of Egypts southern border with Nubia, she came to personify the former annual flooding of the Nile and to serve as a war, hunting, and fertility goddess. She was sometimes conflated wi

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Satis being worshiped by the pharaoh Sobekhotep III of the thirteenth dynasty, a portion of her conical crown, the Hedjet, adorned with antelope horns shows in the fragment - c. 1760 B.C. - Brooklyn Museum

Elephantine
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Elephantine is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in southern Egypt. There are archaeological sites on the island, Elephantine island is 1,200 metres from north to south, and is 400 metres across at its widest point. The layout of this and other islands in Aswan can be seen from west bank hillsides along the Nile. The island i

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West bank of Elephantine Island on the Nile River.

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View south (upstream) of Elephantine Island and Nile, from a hotel tower.

Horus
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Horus is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom, different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a falcon or peregrine falcon. In another

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Horus, patron deity of Hierakonpolis (near Edfu), the predynastic capital of Upper Egypt. Its head was executed by means of beating the gold then connecting it with the copper body. A uraeus is fixed to the diadem which supports two tall openwork feathers. The eyes are inlaid with obsidian. (6th dynasty).

Intef II
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Wahankh Intef II was the third ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. He reigned for almost fifty years from 2112 BC to 2063 BC and his capital was located at Thebes. In his time, Egypt was split between several local dynasties and he was buried in a saff tomb at El-Tarif. Intefs parents were Mentuhotep I and N

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Funerary stele of Intef II, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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The dogs of Intef II on his funerary stele, Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Thebes, Egypt
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Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located east of the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome. It was close to Nubia and the desert, with their valuable mineral resources. It wa

Nomarch
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Nomarchs were Ancient Egyptian administration officials responsible of the provinces. Effectively serving as governors, they each held authority over one of the 42 nomes into which the country was divided. Nome is derived from the Greek nomos, meaning a province or district, and nomarch is derived from the Greek title nomarches, the power of the no

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Royal titulary

Upper Egypt
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Upper Egypt is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and downriver to Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver to the area between Dahshur and El-Ayait, which is south of modern-day Cairo, the northern part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also kno

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Iry-Hor

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Ka

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King Scorpion

Mentuhotep II
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Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II was a Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty who reigned for 51 years. Around his 39th year on the throne he reunited Egypt, thus ending the First Intermediate Period, consequently, he is considered the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II was the son of Intef III and Intef IIIs wife Iah who may also have been his sister

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Mentuhotep II on a relief from his mortuary temple in Deir el-Bahari

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Silsileh rock carving depicting a giant king Mentuhotep II, on the right Intef III and the treasurer Kheti and, on the left, queen Iah.

Karnak king list
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Composed during the reign of Thutmose III, it listed sixty-one kings beginning with Sneferu from Egypts Old Kingdom. Only the names of kings are still legible, and one is not written in a cartouche. It was first described by James Burton in 1825, in 1843, a German expedition directed by egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius was traveling up the River N

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Detailed photos of the actual list in the Louvre

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Drawing of the list in 1843

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General

Festival Hall of Thutmose III
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The Festival Hall of Thutmose III is an ancient shrine in Luxor, Egypt. It is located at the heart of the Precinct of Amun-Re, the edifice is normally translated as the most glorious of monuments, but monument to living spirit is an alternative translation since akh can mean either glory or blessed/living spirit. The Festival Hall of Thutmose III i

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The Chamber of Ancestors, drawn by Lepsius

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The Columns of the Festival Hall

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General

Mentuhotep III
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Sankhkare Mentuhotep III of the Eleventh dynasty was Pharaoh of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. He was assigned a reign of 12 years in the Turin Canon, Mentuhotep III succeeded his father Mentuhotep II to the throne. It is believed that, following his fathers long 51 years of reign, Mentuhotep III was relatively old when he acceded to the throne,

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Mentuhotep III on a relief carving from the temple of Monthu in Medamud.

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Osiride statue of the 11th dynasty pharaoh Mentuhotep III, on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Heqaib
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Heqaib, also Hekaib or Hekayeb, was an ancient Egyptian nomarch of the 1st nomos of Upper Egypt under king Pepi II Neferkare, towards the end of the 6th Dynasty. He was also an officer in charge of expeditions in Nubia. As officer, he led at least three expeditions, all of these are registered on the façade of his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa, after a lo

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Entrance of the tomb of Heqaib at Qubbet el-Hawa.

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Sanctuary of Heqaib

Herakleopolis Magna
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Heracleopolis Magna or Heracleopolis is the Roman name of the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt. The site is located approximately 15 km west of the city of Beni Suef. In Ancient Egypt, Heracleopolis Magna was known in Egyptian as the House of the Royal Child, the Greek name meant City of Hercules, with the epithet great being added t

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Heracleopolis

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Partial view of the bas-relief from the north wall of a funerary chapel containing the tombs of district governor Neferkhau-(Nfr-khaU) and a woman named Sat-Bahetep (probably his wife)-(Sa-t, Ba-htp), dated between 9th and 11th dynasties. It shows a funerary food-offering ritual for Sat-Baheteps's ka (between 2160 and 1990 BC).

First cataract
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In some places, these stretches are punctuated by whitewater, while at others the water flow is smoother, but still shallow. Counted going upstream, In Egypt, The First Cataract cuts through Aswan and its former location was selected for the construction of Aswan Low Dam, the first dam built across the Nile. However, none of the Niles six primary c

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Fourth Cataract

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The six cataracts of the Nile

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Sixth Cataract

Coptos
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Qift is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile. In ancient Egypt, Qift, known then as Gebtu, was an important center for administration, religion, from Qift and Qus, trading expeditions heading for the Red Sea and many mining expeditions into the Eastern Desert left the Nile Valley. Ge

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Min-Amen-ka-Mut-ef, Gebtu male fertility deity - Louvre

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Isis nursing her infant son - Louvre

Ankhtifi
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Ankhtifi was a nomarch of Hierakonpolis and a supporter of the pharaoh in Herakleopolis Magna, which was locked in a conflict with the Theban based 11th Dynasty kingdom for control of Egypt. Hence, Ankhtifi was possibly a rival to the Theban rulers Mentuhotep I, the precise pharaoh under whom Ankhtifi served is anything but certain, the sequence an

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Ankhtifi from his tomb at el-Mo'alla

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Fishing scene from the tomb of Ankhtifi at el-Mo'alla

International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning

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A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an EAN-13 bar code

Labib Habachi
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Labib Habachi was an influential Egyptian Egyptologist. Dr Habachi spent 30 years in the Antiquities Department of the Egyptian Government, during this period he spent an enormous amount of time in numerous dig sites in Egypt and the Sudan. He left government work to accept a position at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago as an Arc

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Tomb of Labib Habachi in Malqata

Naqada III
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Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation and they would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those names were inscribed in the for

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The Narmer Palette, thought to mark the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt; note the images of the goddess Bat at the top, as well as the serpopards that form the central intertwined image.

Double Falcon
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Double Falcon was a ruler of Lower Egypt from Naqada III. He may have reigned during the 32nd century BCE, the length of his reign is unknown. It was in 1910 that Egyptologist M. J. Clédat discovered the first evidence for Double Falcon, investigating the site, Clédat soon discovered four serekhs of Double Falcon. The next attestation of Double Fal

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Serekh of Double Falcon. Redrawing of an inscription on a vessel found in El-Beda.

Iry-Hor
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Iry-Hor or Ro was a predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt during the 32nd century BC. Until recently, Iry-Hors existence was debated, with the Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson contesting the reading, however, continuing excavations at Abydos in the 1980s and 1990s and the discovery in 2012 of an inscription of Iry-Hor in the Sinai confirmed his existence.

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Signs r-Ḥr inscribed on a large vessel from the tomb of Iry-Hor, Ashmolean Museum.

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Name of Iry-Hor as found in Abydos.

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Iry-Hor's tomb at the Umm el-Qa'ab comprises two separate chambers B1 and B2, shown in inset. Iry-Hor's tomb is located close to Ka's (B7, B8, B9) and Narmer's tombs (B17, B18).

Ka (pharaoh)
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Ka, also Sekhen, was a Predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt belonging to Dynasty 0. He probably reigned during the first half of the 32nd century BC, the length of his reign is unknown. The correct reading of Kas name remains uncertain, the second form of that writing indicates a reading as Sekhen rather than Ka. It was also thought to be the name of

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Vessel found at Tarkhan bearing the serekh of king Ka. Petrie Museum, London

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Seal impression with Ka's serekh. Note the absence of the Horus falcon. British Museum.

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Ka's tomb in the Umm el-Qa'ab

Scorpion II
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Scorpion II, also known as King Scorpion, refers to the second of two kings or chieftains of that name during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt. King Scorpions name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptology and his name is often introduced by a six- or seven-leafed, golden rosette or flower-sign. Its precise meaning has been discuss

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Head of king Scorpion on his mace head

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The Scorpion Macehead, Ashmolean Museum.

Narmer
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Narmer was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period. Probably the successor to the Protodynastic kings Scorpion and/or Ka, some consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. This conclusion is based on the Narmer Palette and the two seals from the necropolis of Abydos

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Close-up view of Narmer on the Narmer Palette

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Chambers B17 and B18 in the Umm el-Qa'ab constitute the tomb of Narmer.

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Narmer wearing the Deshret crown of Lower Egypt on the Narmer Palette.

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Vase of Sekhemib bearing the inscription reproduced on the right. At its right, it reads The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sekhemib-Perenmaat, at its left it reads administrator of the house of copper, god servant of Kherty, National Archaeological Museum (France).

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Clay seal of Sekhemib

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Fragment of a diorite vase inscribed with part of the name of pharaoh Sekhemib Perenmaat from the Pyramid of Djoser and now in the Egyptian Museum. The inscription reads (from right to left): "King of Lower- and Upper Egypt, Sekhemib-Per(enma'at), tribute of the foreigners, provisions to...".

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Head of a King, ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E, Brooklyn Museum; The earliest representations of Egyptian Kings are on a small scale. Not until Dynasty III were statues made which show the ruler life-size; this forceful head wearing the tall crown of Upper Egypt even surpasses human scale, both in measurements and in its aim to depict the godlike power and strength of the Pharaoh.

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An offering vessel of Pepi I. It would have likely been used to celebrate this king's Heb Sed feast

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Ointment vase celebrating Pepi I's first Sed festival, Musée du Louvre. The inscription reads: The king of Upper and Lower Egypt Meryre, may he be given life for ever. The first occasion of the Sed festival.